Where Shadows Fall
by Katherine Austen
Summary: A simple expedition into the jungle turns into a terrifying experience for Claire and Kate as they end up lost. Secrets and Surprises emerge on the journey. R & R!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: Nooope, don't own anybody, don't have any affiliation whatsoever. I'm just a nerd who loves writin' Lost fics ;)

Kate Austen tried to walk as slow as she possibly could, but her long legs found it rather difficult. She turned often, looking behind her, keeping her eyes on Claire, who was coming along to pick fruit with her, Baby Aaron sleeping soundly in the sling Charlie had long ago made for her. Kate warned Claire that even though they weren't going deep into the jungle, it still wasn't safe. But Claire insisted, saying she and Aaron both needed a change in scenery. So Kate, reminding Sawyer of her "Carte Blanche", borrowed a gun for protection. She understood Claire's need to get away, Locke was on her constantly like a Hawk, and Charlie attempted every day to do the same. Watching her with longing eyes anytime she came into his view.

Kate stopped for a second, took a swig of water and allowed Claire to catch up with her. "Sure feels nice to leave the beach." Claire smiled, looking down at Aaron. "Right sweetheart?"

She smiled as he sleepily smiled back at her. Kate offered Claire some water and she happily accepted.

"You know, Sawyer and I found this really pretty waterfall not to far from here." Kate smiled, being careful not to mention the bodies they also discovered.

Claire smiled wide. "Just as long as we get back before its dark, I don't want John sending out a search party for me."

The both laughed a little and started to walk again.

It was a beautiful day, very warm on the beach and a few degrees cooler through the jungle. The air smelled sweet and various animals popped in and out of their homes at the sound of the girls. They both wished everyday was like this, no sign of any danger, the atmosphere calm and inviting. But more often then not, the most dangerous events happened on days like this, so Claire tried to remain as close to Kate as possible. Aaron was soon sound asleep from the gentle rocking of the sling as Claire walked.

Kate stopped as she heard a rustling in the bushes to her left, putting her right hand out in front of Claire to stop her. She brought her finger to her mouth to remind Claire to keep silent, luckily Aaron wasn't awakened when Claire jolted to stop.

A small boar emerged on the path in front of them, sniffing in their direction, giving a little snort and trotting off. Both girls laughed hysterically.

"He was rather threatening, wasn't he?" Claire giggled.

"I don't know why, but that totally made me think of Sawyer."

Claire laughed again as the two began walking again.

The little boar ran back out at them, charging at Claire, causing her to jump and grab onto Kate.

Claire, looking rather embarrassed, let go of Kate and laughed until she was red in the face.

"Definitely Sawyer." She managed to get out.

Kate agreed, and soon the two girl and baby Aaron were standing at the waterfall, eyeing a small rainbow in the mist.

"Beautiful." Claire smiled. Kate sat down on a rock near the edge of the water, and Claire did the same, carefully so she wouldn't wake Aaron. Kate cut a mango in pieces, handing Claire a couple, and a water bottle. They sat, making small talk and dipping their feet into the crystal clear cool water. Kate remembered the bodies, but figured it wasn't anything to stress over since they were just dipping their feet in.

"What was that?" Kate asked. Claire looked around and listened carefully.

"I don-"

"John wouldn't have started the search party just yet."

Claire finally heard what Kate did. Voices, getting louder as they came closer.

"Give me Aaron." Kate said, Claire was about to question why but knew she could trust Kate, and she took the sling from around her neck and out it around Kate's. Kate didn't like the feeling she had in her stomach and she didn't like the voices she heard either. She grabbed Claire's arm and pulled her to a stand.

"RUN."


	2. Chapter 2

The Jungle was humid and moist as the girls ran through, they had no idea what direction they were running, all the knew was the couldn't stop. Even though Aaron was in the sling, Kate still clung to him for dear life. Claire was running as fast as she could but still remained a few feet behind Kate, she slipped on the damped leaves on the jungle floor, crying out in pain at Kate.

Kate stopped, catching her breath and peeing down at Aaron. She looked around, they had been running long enough that they were hopefully safe. Kate surveyed the surroundings, nothing at all looked familiar. She kneeled down next to Claire and peered at her ankle. Claire was gently rubbing it and wincing a little.

"You all right?"

"Yeah, think I just twisted it a little, that's it." Kate helped her to a stand and Claire rubbed her bottom. "My Bum got the best of that fall." She said with a pained smile.

"We need to find somewhere to hide it out for a little bit, until I figure out where the hell we are."

Claire nodded in agreement. She leaned into Kate peering down at Aaron, who was awake, eyes wide, trying to figure out what had just happened. They both surveyed the surroundings, and Kate listen carefully. She could hear the rustling of small animals in the greenery surrounding them, and the gentle coos from Aaron. Her heart beat fast as she realized that they truly weren't anywhere familiar. And since Kate had trekked the jungle many times, she would know.

"We should find higher ground." Kate suggested. "Maybe then we can pinpoint where exactly we are and find our way back to the back or the Hatch."

"But wouldn't we get spotted on higher ground?" Claire asked.

"Not if we play it safe." Kate replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Now we just need to FIND higher ground."

She was wary of any sort of pathway they would come across, because she had a strong feeling it would lead them to the Others. She didn't want to say anything to Claire, but she had a feeling they were already on their territory.

"Wouldn't it be safer to just wait it out? Maybe just stay here?" Claire suggested.

Kate shook her head. They both knew soon enough Locke would come looking for them, and Kate had a feeling that Jack would launch his own search party as well. But they had a clear disadvantage, they didn't know the area at all. And there was a high possibility that someone else did, and that someone else or perhaps group of somebodies could be eyeing them right now.

"I don't think its safe for us to just wait anywhere." Kate sighed. "And if we make any sort of signal or fire...we'd be found by the Others long before Locke or Jack or anyone."

"This makes me wish...of all things, that Rousseau would pop up right about now."

"No kidding, might be nice to actually be HAPPY to run in with her for once."

"So, where do we go from here?" Claire asked.

"Anywhere." Kate replied.

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John Locke nervously waited by the entrance to the hatch. Claire had been gone with Kate for some time now...he couldn't help but worry.

"She's in good hands." Jack said, he was getting rather annoyed of Locke merely standing there, and when he wasn't standing, he was pacing, getting on Jack's last nerve.

"It shouldn't take this long to merely pick fruit and get some fresh air." Locke replied. "There's forces that even Kate can't stand up against out there."

Jack hated to admit Locke might be right.

"I'm going to find them." Locke said, grabbing his bag, stuffing it with some necessities.

"I'm going to." Jack stated. Locke stopped and looked up at him.

"Everything's under control in here." Jack continued. "Ana's here, Sayid is here...we'll grab a couple of other people from the beach and make two teams."

Locke nodded. "Get Jin, maybe Sawyer...Hurley?"

"I'll go." Sayid spoke up. "Jin won't leave Sun right now."

Everyone peered back at Ana who was sitting on the couch, tinkering with something as usual. "What?" She said, looking up at them. "I've got it under control in here."

At this point Jack couldn't care less if she excessively kicked "Henry" in the balls or not.

Sayid and Jack got some things together then headed to the beach to recruit anyone else willing to join them. Sawyer reluctantly agreed to go, as Jack awakened him from a nap. He'd just have trouble trying to fall back asleep again. Jack, Sawyer and Sayid armed themselves with guns while Locke being his typical self, trusted in his knife. They realized they really didn't need more then the four of them, so they started off, taking torches with them since the sun was starting to set.

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"I'm freezing." Claire softly stated, folding her arms and rubbing her hands over sides. Kate stopped, positioned the baby sling just right and slid off the thin long sleeved button up she generally carried with her. She handed it to Claire, who shook her head. She motioned to Aaron who was sound asleep again, rock to sleep from kate walking, his belly full from a recent stop so he could nurse.

"He needs it more." Claire said, a small smile friendly smile creeping across her lips.

Kate smiled back and stopped, tucking the shirt around Aaron. Claire was rather happy she was with Kate, Aaron was always calm and comfortable around her. He had been since the day she delivered him. It made Kate happy in return, caring for the sweet little boy who never failed to give her large, drooly smiles that made her feel wonderful inside. Claire considered Kate an Aunt to him, and she knew he felt safe and comfortable snuggled up close to Kate's body.

"Maybe we should stop now." Kate suggested. They had been walking for a while now and it just seemed as if they were going in circles. She stopped in front of a little spot where some trees curved into eachother, making a small shelter almost as vines and small plants grew over them, making it the perfect place to hide out. Claire nodded as she saw the natural shelter. Kate held Aaron close and crouched into the little area, Claire quickly followed.

"What now?" Claire asked.

"We wait it out for a bit." Kate solemnly replied. She looked over at Claire who was shivering, her teeth chattering. Kate snuggled up next to her, hoping to help keep her warm. Kate hadn't even stopped to realize how cold she was as well. And sitting close to Claire at that moment, she felt warm and secure, as did Claire, even if only for a few moments.


	3. Chapter 3

Notes: Haven't abandoned this one :) Been distracted with other fics, lol. But, here's a short chapter, and there's load of action yet to come. :)

Kate jumped as she woke up. She peered out at the darkened sky, and shook Claire to wake her up.

"Wha?" Claire said, sleepily.

"We fell asleep!" Kate exclaimed.

"Oh...oh no." Claire said, sitting up and looking around. "Thank the stars no one found us. Well, no one we don't want finding us at least." She peered down at Aaron in the sling, who stretched a little and opened his eyes.

"He's slept well." Kate said.

"I should nurse him, he's probably starving." Claire stated. Kate nodded as Aaron gave a hungry whimper.

"Are you hungry?" Kate asked.

"STARVING." Claire replied as she lifted Aaron out of the sling over Kate's shoulder. Kate dug through her bag and pulled out two mangoes. Claire rather awkwardly held Aaron to her chest with one arm and attempted to eat the fruit with her free hand.

"You think they'd be looking for us...you know, Locke and them." Claire said between bites of the rip fruit in her hand.

"I think they are looking, they just aren't looking in the right places." Kate sighed. "We don't even know where we are..."

"What do we do now?"

Kate shrugged. "I really don't trust wandering around when its dark like this." They were lucky the moon was very bright this particular night, otherwise they wouldn't be able to see each other. "How's your ankle?" She asked, remembering Claire's fall earlier.

Claire rolled her ankle and gave a whine. "Not horrid, but not good either. It's a bit sore."

"We're going to have to stay here then. We'll rest some more, keep you off your ankle, make sure Aaron's fed and everything...then we'll head out when it's light enough."

Claire nodded. "I think I can manage." She said.

Aaron finished nursing and both girls finished off their mangoes. Kate passed Claire some water and being rather thirsty she drank half the bottle and Kate finished off the rest.

"You know, if we keep walking straight, one way, wouldn't we reach the beach?" Claire asked. "Then we could walk the beach and make it back to our camp."

Kate nodded. "It sounds like a good idea, but we don't know which side of the island we're on...we could walk straight into the Other's camp...but, its worth a try."

"Anyway we could make a fire?" Claire asked as she shivered.

"I don't think its the best idea...It would give us away far too easily."

"Oh, Yeah..." Claire said as she rubbed her upper arms with her palms.

"If you can, get some more sleep." She set her bag at Claire's feet. "Elevate your ankle on my bag. I'll stay up with Aaron, you rest."

"What about you?" Claire asked.

"I'll be fine. We're pretty lucky we haven't been found yet."

"This is a good little spot." Claire stated.

"Regardless, we're still not safe." Kate said. Claire gave a gentle nod, handed Aaron to Kate and laid back, resting her head on her forearm.

"Goodnight." She said, with a gentle smile.

"Night." Kate replied softly.


End file.
